Tablets: Google Announces New Additions to the Nexus Lineup

Lost in all the frantic preparations for Hurricane Sandy was Google’s product announcements on Monday, October 29th. In fact, the event itself was cancelled; it was in New York City after all. It’s an ill wind indeed that doesn’t blow someone some good and Apple seems to be the main beneficiary by having its upstart competitor’s announcement quashed.

Since there are no speeches to analyse and no live demonstrations to recount, here’s what we do know:

The Nexus 7 is gaining additional storage. The 8 GB tablet is history. Now, there is a 16 GB tablet for $199 and a 32 GB tablet for $249. Doubling your storage capacity for an extra $50.00 seems like a good idea to Dr. Data.

The version of the 32 GB tablet costing $299 can support HSPA+on T-Mobile and AT&T. Google gave 4G LTE a miss as it would drain the battery and increase the cost of the device.

Samsung is manufacturing the Nexus 10 for Google. This tablet supports Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and NFC and offers up to 9 hours of video playback and 500 hours of standby time. This last bit is great if you’re like Dr. Data and hate booting your tablet every hour or two to check your e-mail. The Nexus 10 will be available on November 13th at a price of $399 for 16 GB of storage and $499 for 32 GB or storage.

A 4″ smartphone manufactured for Google by LG. T-Mobile will be offering the device for $199 with a two-year contract.